Salmon Arm
 

How populated is Salmon Arm.

What kind of local shops?

How many schools?

How many nurseries?

Are there any restaurants?

Is there a cinema?

How far away from skiing?

Any Golf clubs?

These may seem like daft questions, but I am just trying to get a general picture about the place. Any other information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

http://www.salmonarm.ca/siteengine/a...age.asp?bhcp=1

This may help.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Kind of, but still can't get a feel for the place.

Where do people go to shop, eat, entertainment........ in Salmon Arms and surrounding area.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Eating Out - There are quite a few restaurants in Salmon Arm, excellent Chinese!

Shopping - There are a number of supermarkets, some in town and some just on the outskirts of the town.

Entertainment - This is subjective....one person's entertainment is another's nightmare.

Vernon is only 60kms from Salmon Arm and provides a far greater quantity of the above-mentioned categories, but then it is quite a bit larger than Salmon Arm which only has 15,000 people living there.

I am surprised you had no joy with the link provided - it is an incredibly comprehensive site and tells you how many schools there are, about the attractions, distances etc. I always found this site invaluable as when we were looking at Salmon Arm it answered every question.

If you want a real feel for the place, the only way to really get that is to visit. I absolutely loved Salmon Arm, but you may not be looking for the same things that I was.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Thanks Tiaribbon

I have been back to the link and I am very impressed, I am sure Salmon Arm will be getting a visit.

Thanks again.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

No problem :) - if you navigate that site it will offer you links to other web addresses which really are pretty good, not only for Salmon Arm but some of the other towns around the vicinity.

As I say, had we not changed our destination to Ontario at the last minute, then Salmon Arm would definitely have been where we would have moved to. It is a small town with a very bright future ahead of it, in my opinion.

One other thing though, it is quite a rural town (not sure if that appeals to you or not), although there was an awful lot of development going on the last time we visited. No doubt once all this new infrastructure is in place, property prices will catch up with the rest of the Okanagan, relatively speaking. Last year the property prices were very much only Shuswap prices.

Hope you love it as much as we did.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

thought id push me wifes post back up the board.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Also take a look here for some news on Salmon Arm to give you a slight taste of Its goings on:- http://www.saobserver.net/

Can I ask why you have singled out Salmon Arm?

Re: Salmon Arm
 

More sources of Salmon Arm info and culture here:

http://www.saobserver.net/

http://www.lakeshorenews.bc.ca/

Economic development (generally quite useful, loads of links and PDF's there) info:

http://www.salmonarmedc.com/demographic.html

Quality of life (crime stats show well compared to BC average):

http://www.salmonarmedc.com/pdf/8.pdf

Rich

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Yes we are drawn to Salmon Arm for the following reasons.

We are hoping to do B & B / Holiday Lets and feel that this would be an ideal location.

Property prices are lower with good prospects.

We are a bit concerned about other job prospects, we will have to work when we arrive in Canada. I am an Administrations Manager specialising in accounts here in the UK so I am trying to determine what job prospects are like there.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Than you

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Hi Tiaribbon

Can I ask why Ontario and not Salmon Arm

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Forest fires - although Salmon Arm had a massive one a few years ago so it should be safe for a while.

Land was an issue - couldn't find a property with enough usable acres. Found loads of 150 acre properties but most of that land was either up a mountain or completely covered in pine trees.

4-5 hour drive from Vancouver and airport.

I think you may find it difficult to find employment in Salmon Arm - it is a pretty small place, so you more than likely will have to be prepared to travel to a larger place for employment ie. Vernon or Kamloops.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

I live in Chase, which is about 45ks from Salmon Arm.

The positives for Salmon Arm are it is so pretty. You have Boston Pizza, Cinema, Joeys Only, and all the other fast fooders and 2 Tim Hortons :)

In the Winter it is a bit bleak. The smaller restaurants close down, and it is very quiet from Oct through till April/May. Safeway, opens till 10.00pm :D

The gas prices made the summer tourist season quieter than usual this year.

It is within easy reach of most places and I like it, but it is quiet. I agree that Vernon would be a better option or if you are looking for something quieter, have you looked at Armstrong which is between Salmon Arm and Vernon.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Hi Tiaribbon

We would be looking for property with maybe a couple of acres that we could build some holiday lets. Do you think this will be available to us?

Have you visited Vernon?

Just out of interest, was anyone killed in the Forest Fire?

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Hi Judy

How long have you been living in Canada?

What are the property prices like in Vernon?

I am trying to get a gut feeling for the weather, how long would you say the snow settles for during the winter?

I was just beginning to get a good feeling about Salmon Arm but you have unnerved me, not that I am complaining, I am very grateful for the feedback.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Yes I think you should be able to find a suitable property quite easily in Salmon Arm with only a couple of acres - we were looking for between 100 and 200 acres and that was difficult to find.

Yes I spent a lot of time in Vernon - I used to really love it there, but it is so busy these days and growing at a rate of knots. Traffic was getting bad the last time we were there - I don't do traffic queues! There are just tonnes and tonnes of new subdivisions sprouting up everywhere in Vernon and around. If you are interested in the Vernon area - you could look in BX and anywhere around Silver Star Ski Resort. Vacation homes are probably in demand in those areas. Just check MLS for prices. I have no idea how much properties up there are going for nowadays, but I would think you would be looking at upwards of $600,000 for a home with maybe an acre or two. Of course you would have to check the planning regulations to make sure that you could build the vacation homes.

I don't think any people were killed in the fire - but if you google it you will find tonnes and tonnes of photos and information about it. It was a hell of a fire!! When you visit you will see the devastation that it caused - still visible even though the fire happened way back in 1998. They managed to keep it from engulfing the town which had to be evacuated and it swept right around the town from Fly Hill around the perimeter, jumped Salmon Valley Road and up Mount Ida. It pretty much went down the valley also, along Yankee Flats Road and down into Falkland. I did as much research on forest fires as I did on bears!! Can't remember all my findings now though. There is also a Flood Zone in Salmon Arm which you should familiarise yourself with.

Forest fires are just a part of what BC is - they happen all the time over there. I'm sure you must have heard of the recent one on Okanagan Mountain at Kelowna? Fires occur every year and they are just something that you have to get your head around.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

A very general overview of Salmon Arm (check out the links at the bottom)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_Arm

(I just lurve wikipedia!)

Clare

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Sounds like a pub on Dartmoor

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Cheers

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Hi Tiaribbon

Why 100 - 200 Acres?

What drew you to Ontario?

Is the weather much colder?

Thanks for the warning on the flood fire

Re: Salmon Arm
 

I did mean to say flood zone honest, just fighting my 2.1/2 year old daughter away from the keyboard, she has a habit of pressing the escape button.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

This is a copy of my response to another thread going on in here:

"Our listed Destination was Vernon in the Okanagan;
reasons for:

Stunning scenery
Beautiful and inexpensive properties
Friendly and relaxed people
Mild winters, nice summers

Changed our minds for these reasons:

5 hours from major airport and decent sized city
Started to find the scenery boring - looks the same in every season
Sick of pine trees - no deciduous trees
Dodgey and unstable economy
Acreage was easy to find - but on 200 acre properties, most had only a few usable acres as the rest were covered in trees or the side of a mountain.
Couldn't find the right farm.


Found Ontario and our area in particular and fell in love for these reasons:

Close proximity to a major airport and large cities
Absolutely beautiful scenery
Deciduous trees and lots of rivers
Changing seasons - countryside looks different almost every month
Proper acreage - all land usable
Stable economy
Friendly community
and most importantly found the farm!!"

Yes the winters are much colder in Ontario. We needed a large acreage to farm and we just couldn't find this sort of workable acreage in BC. I do love BC and would certainly consider moving there at some point in the future.....as a potential retirement location. The economy worried me and although the economy in my area of Ontario is perhaps not as lucrative as it possibly could have been in the Okanagan, at least it is stable and that is what I was looking for to run a business. I am not keen on economic fluctuations.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Morning Tia,

How is the weekend going out there, got any rain last night? We were driving back from Markham ontario, and got hit by heavy rain that turned into snow last night.

It wasn't a good driving experience :scared:

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Miserable here! Rained a bit yesterday (we went to the cinema though so didn't matter) and then was dry until about 8pm. Still drizzling now. No snow yet though and actually it is quite mild outside so I would be surprised if we get any.....cold inside though LOL!! Please don't send any more yucky weather our way :eek: .

Re: Salmon Arm
 

LOL....it was around 8pm that the rain started yesterday, we had been out all day, house hunting, and we finally got a place, closing on it next year summer.

Re: Salmon Arm
 

Ooh fantastic!! How exciting - next summer will be here before you know it! Will PM you.